


Promises Kept

by laurelofthestory



Series: The Forgotten Words [3]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Abrupt Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Not Canon Compliant, OUTDATED, Out of Character, Season/Series 01, Teen Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:54:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27129541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurelofthestory/pseuds/laurelofthestory
Summary: In one world, in one time, in one moment, Rapunzel finds the words she needs to change things, and it makes all the difference in the world.Unfinished oneshot, canon-divergent Queen for a Day (no heel turn), posted forGood Intentions WIP-fest.
Relationships: Cassandra & Varian (Disney: Tangled)
Series: The Forgotten Words [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1979123
Kudos: 12
Collections: Good Intentions: Abandoned and Unfinished WIPs





	Promises Kept

**Author's Note:**

> This...is old. I mean, unreasonably old. I mean May 2018 pre-Season 2 old. But back then, I had an idea for a specific AU where Varian doesn't turn on the group, and wondered how Season 2 would go with him tagging along as a side character. I'm definitely not the only one who thought of this, but I was interested in having a go at it--except I couldn't figure out how to get the group going after what would've been Secret of the Sundrop, so I stopped after writing this and one other unfinished ficlet based on Not in the Mood (which I'll be posting soon), and thinking a lot about Painter's Block and Varian going feral in that.
> 
> Obviously this doesn't line up with anything anymore and people are probably OOC; again, remember this was written in 2018 before we even knew anything about Season 2. Although funnily enough I _did_ wind up picturing Varian's reaction to the Demanitus Device pretty much exactly as he reacted to it in canon, which is always a good feeling. 
> 
> Check out more from the Good Intentions event [here!](https://goodintentionswipfest.tumblr.com/)

_“Princess, my dad needs help!”_

In another time and place and world, Rapunzel was frozen. She’d watched in helpless distress as her desperate friend was dragged away, only able to manage an ineffective cry before burying her face in her hands. And perhaps that was an understandable reaction--the weight of the kingdom on her shoulders rendering her unable to move, barely able to think, a lifetime’s worth of anxieties pressing down on one crucial point within a girl who had never had to face anything close to this, someone who’d always been taught that anything she thought of was wrong, to always defer to someone else because _mother knows best._

This was not that time, or place, or world, however.

For in that particular place, in that particular moment, something began to burn inside of her and she acted without thinking, jumping forward with a hand extended.

“No, no! Let him go!”

Pete and Stan stopped, glancing at each other in confusion before looking back at Rapunzel, still holding the struggling boy tightly. Rapunzel had only run a few steps, but already felt as if all the air had been knocked out of her.

“What--what are you going to do with him?”

“They are going to get him _out_ of this castle, _that_ is what they are going to do.” She heard Nigel walking up behind her, saw the guards’ gazes shifting to him, then back to her with confusion over who they should follow.

Rapunzel’s shoulders stiffened. “...No.”

“Princess--”

“You said that going out there is a virtual death sentence, right? That the storm is getting _stronger by the second?”_ Her hands balled into fists at her sides, her voice raised. “I _just_ sent _the love of my life_ out into that because I _had_ to. We’re _not_ throwing _him_ into the storm, too.”

Varian had stopped fighting the guards, and was now staring at her wide-eyed, still out of breath. “So--so you’ll help--”

“No, I--” She looked away, wincing. Her voice cracks. “I can’t, I _can’t._ But I can’t let you go back out there, either...”

Almost instinctively, she turned to Nigel, her sudden courage beginning to falter. Nigel seemed uncertain. “Princess, we cannot allow this boy to remain in the castle. He is a _danger,_ he attacked you!”

“Attacked me?”

 _"Attacked_ her?!” Varian’s eyes suddenly narrowed with a harshness she never would've expected from him, and he began to struggle with renewed vigor. “What do you--you think you know what’s going on, well you _don’t,_ you _can’t,_ she _has_ to--”

“Varian, _please…"_ Rapunzel met Varian’s eyes with a look of desperation. “I know you’re scared, everyone’s scared, _I’m..._ scared. And I’m sorry. But we have to...figure this out later, okay?”

Varian opened his mouth as if he were going to say something...then closed it and stopped struggling. He said nothing, but still glared at the ground as if it were the reason for all of his problems.

“Well? What do _you_ suggest we do, Princess?” Nigel asked.

Rapunzel took a deep breath, closing her eyes. “...Take him to one of the guest rooms.”

“Are you certain?”

“...Yes.” She opened her eyes, nodding once. “As acting queen, those are my orders.”

“At least have some guards posted, just in case…”

“Fine. Just...don’t hurt him.”

Rapunzel gave Varian a brief look. After a moment, he raised his head and their eyes met again. He looked as if he were ready to burst into tears, bitter and hurt, but a strained sort of understanding passed between them. 

Varian’s shoulders slumped, his whole countenance deflating. He shut his eyes, chewing on his lip and making as if to turn around. The guards obliged, and Rapunzel watched in silence as Pete and Stan guided Varian off down the hall, praying she was making the right decision.

* * *

He could hear them talking to each other from just outside the door, but he couldn’t bring himself to care in that moment. Varian was curled up on the bed, shaking, wishing he could cry but finding himself unable to, exhausted from his dash against the storm and yet unable to sleep because whenever he closed his eyes he just replayed the seconds before he’d left over and over again. 

He’d already tried to get out of the room a couple of times--if the princess wasn’t going to help, then he’d at least have to try to get home to figure something out himself, but the guards had been insistent. They’d also been surprisingly sympathetic, not that Varian cared. He teetered on the line between devastation and rage, threatening to lose himself to either at any moment. 

The same thoughts, over and over in his mind, from both sides. _I’m too late. It’s their fault. It’s my fault. They’re keeping me trapped here. I should’ve listened. She won’t help. I shouldn’t have asked for her help. She never cared. No one cares. What kind of son am I. What kind of princess is she._

The door creaked. Varian didn’t bother looking up, gritting his teeth. His voice was still shaky and broken, and forcing words out was painful. “Leave me alone.”

“Nice to see you again too, dork.”

The familiar voice made him make the effort to raise his head slightly. Cassandra was standing in the doorway, her arms crossed and a vaguely frustrated look on her face.

“What do you want?” It came out harsher than he’d intended.

“Raps said I should get you. If she’s right, you’re gonna want to see this, and if she isn’t, well...we’re evacuating to the mainland anyway.”

That caught his interest. He raised an eyebrow, and pushed himself into a sitting position, wrapping his arms around himself. “What’s she want me to see?”

Cassandra sighed. “She latched onto some legend Xavier was talking about last night. Something about how this storm is a curse, and there’s some kind of _magical underground device_ that can _blow it out to sea._ We’re gonna go look for it. Or, _she's_ gonna go look for it and _I'm_ going after her.”

“A curse?” Varian let out a bark of a laugh. _"Really?"_

Cassandra put a hand to her hip. “Hey, you came here so Rapunzel’s _magical hair_ could help you with the _magical rocks."_

“...Point taken.”

“So, are you coming?”

Varian remained silent, ducking his chin. He heard Cassandra cross the room, and felt the mattress sink very slightly as she sat down next to him. He didn’t look up.

“Hey. Kid. What’s wrong.”

“What’s _wrong?"_ Varian’s head shot up with a sudden rush of energy, his eyes flashing in anger as he glanced over at her. “Gee, I don’t know, _what’s wrong?_ My entire village is being destroyed by those rocks while everyone else tries to pretend they don’t exist, my _father_ is back home being _encased_ in some mineral while I’m sitting here doing nothing about it and he could already be _dead,_ but it’s not like either of _you_ would _understand--"_

“I’m gonna stop you right there.” Cassandra’s voice had gone cold, and Varian unconsciously leaned away from her. “You think we don’t know? _Rapunzel’s_ parents are out there in that storm, up on a mountain _covered_ in ice, we don’t even know if they’ve managed to last _this_ long in the cold. The _entire kingdom_ is suffering the worst blizzard anyone's seen in centuries, people are leaving things behind to get to safety _knowing_ they might not be there _when and if_ they make it back.”

Cassandra stood up, She paced once across the length of the room before turning back to face him.

“I like you. I think you’re a good kid. And with that in mind? _Get off your high horse."_ Her hands went to her hips, and she leaned in far too close. “A lot more people than you are suffering, and _none_ of us can afford to sit around and mope about it, no matter how much we want to. Rapunzel’s at her limit, I’m losing my patience, Eugene’s out in the middle of _nowhere_ trying to save the royal family when it might already be too late. We’re _all tense._ But if we want to make it through this? We can’t just cry or point fingers or yell at people, that can all happen later. Right now, we have to stand up and _do something about it._ Which is what me and Rapunzel are doing.”

Cassandra turned away, storming back to the door. Her hands were clasped tightly behind her in a soldier’s stance. Varian just stared at the back of her head in stunned silence, unable to force out any words, his brain coming to a screeching halt like a machine with its gears suddenly jammed.

“...Well?” Her voice was calm, now, but there was an edge to it--not of anger, but of determination, the same fire that sparked in her eyes when she glanced over her shoulder at him, the same look that made him glad he was sitting down because he was certain his legs would fail him under that stare. “In, or out?”

Varian watched her silently for a few more moments, as his mind slowly began to function again. New thoughts turned over and over in his head, new despair and new anger but...it would have to wait.

Varian wiped his face on his sleeve and nodded. Cassandra gave a satisfied little smile and reached out a hand to help him up.

“That’s more like it.” She lightly shoved his shoulder, before her smile dropped to a grim line and she turned to leave, gesturing for him to follow. “Now come on. One way or another, we’ve got a whole kingdom to save.”

Varian was glad she’d turned around, so she wouldn’t see the sudden pink that rushed to his face as he scrambled after.

* * *

“So, this Lord Demanitus. You say he was an...engineer? Inventor?”

Xavier chuckled quietly at Varian’s continued questioning. “Yes, that is correct. Though he _was_ said to have practiced magic, and used such in his creations.”

“I don’t know about you, but it seems like our Demanitus _might’ve_ been an alchemist.” Varian glanced at the others, raising an eyebrow and making a grand gesture with his staff, sending shadows dancing along the tunnel walls. “What do you guys think?”

 _"I_ think you need to calm down,” Cassandra replied, “We’re not even sure if this guy existed at all.”

“But it’s a possibility, right?”

Cassandra just shrugged.

Their conversation came to an abrupt end as the tunnel did, the quartet finding themselves staring down a solid brick wall. All eyes turned to Xavier, who seemed suddenly thoughtful.

“According to the legends, there should be a passageway here…”

Varian frowned, holding his staff up higher to scrutinize the wall. Xavier began searching as well, as Cassandra let out a frustrated groan.

“I knew this would be a waste of time. Come on, if we hurry we can still catch up with the rest of the evacuation…”

Well now Varian _definitely_ wanted to prove her wrong. Hadn’t she told him that they couldn’t just sit around? He frowned in concentration, sweeping his light over his section of wall again before being tapped on the shoulder. Varian glanced over to see Xavier, looking pleased with himself and pointing at a brick in the wall. Varian moved the light over, and it caught on some manner of glyph-like etching Varian didn’t recognize. Varian raised an eyebrow as if to ask permission, gaze briefly darting to the skeptical Cassandra, and Xavier followed his look. The blacksmith’s eyes crinkled in amusement as he nodded.

Varian reached out and pushed against the brick. There was the telltale vibration of machinery under his hand, and the sound of stone scraping stone echoed in the tunnel as the wall opened like a door to reveal another tunnel. Varian turned back to the surprised girls, and couldn’t suppress a little smirk.

“Oh, would you look at that. This way.”

Cassandra rolled her eyes, Xavier laughed quietly to himself, and the group continued through the tunnels, the boy and the man taking point with their respective light sources.

“Varian, you seem to be doing better,” Rapunzel said after some time had passed.

“I’m not,” Varian replied with a shrug, “I’m still terrified. But, uh...I figured...we had to do something, right?”

“I...guess we did,” Rapunzel mused, clasping her hands in front of her. Cassandra nodded in approval.

The tunnels continued uninterrupted for some time, the atmosphere growing more oppressive by the moment. Varian didn’t feel like asking any more questions, so they went in silence, his mind filling back up with worries over his father. It wasn’t like they could turn back, but...maybe they were wasting time with this, valuable time his father _didn’t_ have…

Another tunnel opened up into what looked to be a large cave, manmade if the walls were any indication. Neither of their lights were able to illuminate more than a few feet in front of them, and the four carefully walked as far out as they could on the ledge they’d stepped onto, Rapunzel nearly falling over the edge into the abyss before Cassandra caught her. Three pairs of eyes squinted out into the darkness, trying to make out anything in the massive cave.

Xavier, however, was occupied. “I think this is it,” he said, catching everyone else’s attention immediately as he lowered his torch towards an indent in the wall nearby.

The flame caught _something_ in the trough, and flared up, quickly scurrying off in a spiral around the length of the cave and finally casting light on what was inside.

“I don’t believe it,” Cassandra breathed.

Varian’s eyes had gone the size of saucers as he held his staff tightly in both hands, a grin slowly spreading across his face as he took in every detail.

Xavier was the one to say it.

“Your Highness...the Demanitus Device.”

**Author's Note:**

> I thiiiiink I was going to continue with things going basically the same way as they did in canon, except for the very end; after the storm ends, Rapunzel, Cassandra, and Eugene take Varian back home, where he finds his father in exactly the state you'd expect. While Varian does have a breakdown and briefly tries to take his anger out on Rapunzel, looking like he's going to slip down the same path as canon, the others manage to comfort him _just_ enough to dissuade him--he isn't _alone,_ and that makes all the difference. He's taken back and put under 'castle arrest' due to his outbursts, but works as hard as he can on a solution from there.
> 
> Also yes, Xavier is playing friendship wingman because he likes this kid. The legends were probably going to come later.


End file.
